Abstract

Electronic/computer music is often associated with Western traditions. This dissertation is an epistemological explanation of my approach towards my computer music designs, which are based on the system of improvisation in Persian traditional music . The Khayyamic materialism and its form of ontology, play important structural roles in the design of the tools and the presented musical designs. The ontology found in Khayyamic materialism does not depend on metaphysics, and thus, is related to the concept of unity of form and material. ;I present a comparative study of the approach towards metaphysics in post-structural theory and in Persian poetry. I also give a detailed reading of an article by Jacques Derrida, namely "Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences", which discusses structuralism and Levi-Strauss' musical model of unity of form and material, in relation to the concept of self-referentiality. In this paper, Derrida problematizes the assumed separation of philosophy and poetry within epistemology. This dissertation establishes that self-referentiality is a central point in Derrida's argument for "the loss of the center" or "noncenter" in epistemology, and proposes an alternative solution to that of Derrida's, based on the union of philosophy and poetry, for continuing to engage with the concept of metaphysics within a scientific context. I also briefly discuss the relations of this approach with the theory of autopoiesis. ;The concept of unity of form and material plays an important role in the scientific dialectic for rationalizing Western tonality. I discuss the role of metaphysics in the theories of tonality by Joseph Fetis and Hugo Riemann , and in the theory of atonality by Schoenberg . I discuss the theory of atonality in relation to the concept of self-referentiality and establish that the ambivalent approach by Western musicology towards the concepts of 'tonality' and 'harmony' has provided the context for Western musical paradigms to economically dominate the musical markets all around the world. I suggest a new definition for tonality based on the concept of self-referentiality, in which the listener plays a structural role. ;This dissertation establishes that the presence of atomic elements, such as the metaphysical construction of chords, in a system which attempts to implement the concept of unity of form and material can prove problematic. I present an explanation of the Radif, in which definitions of atomic elements are aesthetically negotiable, and discuss the design and implementation of two computer music tools, namely Recursive Granular Synthesis , and Lila, in which no metaphysical musical constructs are assumed